Warning! Spoilers for Batman: Curse of the White Knight #7 below
One of Batman’s defining personal rules is that he won’t kill his enemies. His moral compass prevents him from committing murder. It’s partly why his villains keep popping up time and time again after being defeated. However, after Azrael nearly killed Batgirl, Batman’s ready for a new mindset entirely.
Batman: Curse of the White Knight has shaken up what it means to be Batman, as Sean Murphy and Matt Hollingsworth’s Black Label series has defied convention at practically every stop. In the series, Harley has killed the Joker, Batman’s lineage to the Wayne’s is revealed as false (instead Azrael is a true Wayne), his origin became even more tragic, and now, Batman’s taking a different approach as a hero - he’s willing to kill Azrael.
In Batman: Curse of the White Knight #4, Barbara Gordon tries to exact revenge on Azrael for killing her father, Jim Gordon. Her plan backfires, as Azrael grabs her and slams her back against his knee, seriously injury Barbara. Batman stands by refusing to fire his gun as Bullock commands him to. In issue #7, Batman visits Barbara as she recovers. Unlike previous versions of Batgirl, she doesn’t become paralyzed. Instead, she makes a slow recovery. As she tells Bruce that she shouldn’t have gone after Azrael without letting him know, he makes a shocking revelation: “I should have used that gun to kill Azrael.”
Batman has a full-blown existential crisis. He tells Barbara he’s not Batman anymore since he’s part of the problem - which lends itself to Murphy’s first White Knight series arc, as a cured Joker painted Batman as the true villain. Bruce says he can’t fix the ongoing corruption in Gotham without coming clean about who is truly is. Despite Barbara telling him that he’s scaring her, Bruce asks if Jim Gordon would have forgiven him for what he’s about to do. Bruce decides to unmask and reveal his true identity to the world (and turn himself into Gotham PD after dealing with Azrael.) After doing so in front of cameras, Nightwing tells him “it’s not worth it, Bruce. You won’t be able to live with yourself. Batman doesn’t kill,” to which Bruce responds “Batman’s dead… and so is Azrael,” as he spins away in the Batmobile to hunt down Jean-Paul Valley.
Batman breaking his own personal code in order to kill Azrael just shows how personal and ugly the war between the two characters has gotten. Azrael’s caused significant damage to his life and Batman wants to put an end to it. It’s shocking Batman wants to straight-up kill someone, but in this case, he’s broken and ready for a change. Watch out Azrael.
Next: Batwoman Incorporates A Rejected Batman: The Animated Series Idea
